Forever and Always
by Amcwish
Summary: Foxface's POV on the Career supplies explosion. One-Shot.


Forever and Always

Crunch!

I hear leaves crumbling from a distance away as the Career's walked away from their supplies and into the inauspicious woods. They were as loud as most people when their feet hit the ground as they are walking.

I focused on the their supplies.

The heavily packed mound is stacked high with supplies that I would love to have. It is filled with everything from a package of bread to a deluxe tent. Filled with things that _they_ need, things that _they _can't live without. They have been trained on how to kill and defend, but were they _really_ prepared for the Hunger Games? All this time they have been living like royalty.

The one disadvantage the Careers' have.

I am about to run for it, but then I remember that the boy from District 3 was still guarding the supplies. How odd it seems that he doesn't walk around to check the other areas of the arena. He just stands there and looks for anyone in his sight. Then I remember that the mines were there and dismiss the thought.

And I continue my thoughts on the mines. Even though I almost know where they all are. It's hard to tell their exact placement. I don't want to risk it.

I take another look at the boy guarding. The District 3 tribute is playing with his spear, he is sticking it into the ground and twirling it around in the palms of his hands. I realize that this is the first time I really take a look at his face. He reminds me of someone. But I can't remember whom. I keep watching him until he took a look in my direction. I sneak behind a couple of trees cautiously so that I am out of his sight, but so that he is still in mine.

When I see his face again, I finally realize why he looks familiar. He looks like an exact replica of my brother, Sammy's face, only older.

I remember vividly of the day Sammy went missing. He was 8 at the time. It was a dark and stormy day. The ominous clouds loomed overhead and ferocious booms increased in volume followed by cracks of lightning in the clouds. Both these things threatened us to stay inside the house. Everyone except for Sammy.

I noticed people rushing from the power plants and straight towards their homes. I was so focused on those people that I didn't noticed Sammy sneaking out of the house. I only noticed he was missing when I saw his small figure in the distance.

That didn't surprise me though. Sammy was a very curious kid. He enjoyed going to his spot by the lake. It didn't matter if it was heavily snowing or tremendously thundering. That opinion might of changed if he knew that water was conductive. Sadly, he didn't.

Sometimes he went there because of his love for plants. He knew of most plants and could tell you almost everything about them. The found out everything he knew by drawing them or looking them up in a book at the apothecary down the street from our house. On the weekends, he would always teach me about plants.

I ran after my brother who had no clue what was going to happen to him. The leaves crunched noisily under my feet. His mind was so set on teaching me every little thing about every plant in the universe. It was his mission to show me everything he knew and would always tell me when he saw the uncommon ones. He was so fascinated about the world around him. That's what I miss about him.

The trail was wide and wound around a couple of trees. Its end wasn't in sight but I knew I was at the lake from the thousand times I have went to Sammy's spot. Lighting fractured the clouds and went into the ground ahead. My pace quickened along with my fear that the lightning hit Sammy.

The few trees that were on the path became a blur as I searched for Sammy, my vision getting cloudy from my tears. The lake came up on me quicker than I thought. The once calm water was thrashing around wildly. It lapped and gained on the dirt eating it up as the storm continued.

I searched around for Sammy but he was nowhere to be found. And that's when I look on the ground around the lake and realize that I was a couple of seconds too late.

Sammy died that day because of me. If I had told him about water being conductive. And I could never forget it. Recently I haven't thought about it as much but now I know Sammy's face will appear in my nightmares tonight. He is the reason why I am still alive in these Games and the reason why I will stay alive. He taught me more than he could even realize. And I couldn't have thanked him enough for it.

The trees and the grass are as green as ever. They are so vibrant but the dull mood evens out the picture to create a normal scene. The sky was white with tints of gray in it. It is beautiful, even if it is all just a complex toy box for us created by the Gamemakers.

I look over at the approximate place where Katniss is. She is good at concealing herself and I couldn't see her from here but I could see her approximate location. I know what she is going to do and I know I can't stop her.

Without thinking, I ran for the supplies. I really want some of the items and it had to be sometime, right? Why not now? As I start to run, I can see Katniss more clearly. It looks like she might blow up the supplies. I could tell by the position of her feet, ready to run at any moment, and the way her bow was angled, just so she can get a perfect shot and still be able to move as soon as the arrow is released.

The wind flies past me as I dash for the pile. I come quickly to a halt as I get to the mines. The boy from district 3 has fallen asleep and for a second I think about what I would do when he dies. It would be like Sammy dying again.

I hop between the mines, and with every skip, pause for a moment to make sure I wasn't off with my calculations and my footing. Once I land. I think I have landed on a mine so I pause longer than usual. When there is nothing but silence I continue until I reach the centerof the supply pile.

There are so many supplies and so many luxuries that I wouldn't even have dreamed of having back in district 5. And now they were all right here. Here for the taking! But I know I couldn't. If by chance Katniss doesn't blow up the Career supplies, then the Career's would know something was stolen from it. They'd still have their food and everything so they'd be fine and the Careers would hunt me down out of pure revenge for taking their supplies.

The Careers wouldn't hunt down Katniss though. She'd catch them off guard and put them in a position that could lead them to death. They've been taught to bring down the rest of us not to survive on top. In an instant, everyone would know that the Victor wouldn't be a Career this time.

I grab a couple of apples that I can tell Katniss was looking at. I think of mockingly waving to her as I pass but I know I don't have such time to waste with a simple gesture as ridiculing her.

I also grab a few other items. I grab a loaf of bread. I wave it at Katniss jokingly but in a swift swipe that she probably thought I threw something at her or even didn't notice at all. I had heard that Peeta's family owns a bakery from a long documentary that most people don't watch about every tribute, and I want to mess with her head a bit if by chance she can recognize my tease. A piece of dried beef is also there so I decide to take that along with iodine tablets next to the apples. My package of iodine tablets from my backpack- that still stays, concealed in the woods- had only a couple tablets left.

I turn towards the woods and dash for it's safety. For all I know, Katniss could be waiting for me to run for the items and blow them up while I am still here. The only thing that might have stood between death and me could have been a simple mistake or mishap. The closer I get to the woods, the faster I run.

When I finally reach the woods, the trees engulf me and the branches huggme in a welcoming way. I am still running, but not as fast as I have been.

A minute later I hear a loud boom. I turn around and look at the sky and notice how the perfectly blue man-made sky has turned into an ashy, grayish-black. In an instant I know that Katniss has done it. She has blown up the Career supplies.

I start to run. I run faster than I never have before. I know that I am safe, I know that whatever happens at the Career supplies isn't going to reach me.

But I run anyways. Not from the explosion but from something even more painful. I run from my brother's death. I am almost positively sure that the boy from district 3 is either slowly dying from his injuries or had an instant death that was less painful but the same fatal result by the sound of the explosion and how close he was to the mines. Inside of me, it feels as if my brother has died a second time. That I only had a second with him again and as soon as he came, he left me again and this time forever.

I know it wasn't really him. That he is just another tribute, another enemy that has been defeated. That he is just another thing that stood in the way between home and me. But it still felt like him.

I push harder and speed up my running. Tears stream down my face constantly and I can't help it. I couldn't help him. I was too late to save him from that lightning bolt and I couldn't stop the inevitable. I look back then keep running. I say a silent last goodbye. The last goodbye to the Career supplies. To the District 3 boy, whose name I never knew and never will because I refuse to look up at the faces of the fallen at night. And finally to my brother who has left me, but will be with me, forever and always.


End file.
